OSKALOOSA, Iowa – Already a two-division star, Cayden Carter impressed in a third IMCA class this season.
Five top-five finishes figured in his run to rookie of the year honors in the Deery Brothers Summer Series for Late Models.
“Everybody is good in this series. Just about anybody can win on a given night,” said Carter, who qualified for all 16 series main events and finished as runner-up in just his fourth tour start, at Quad City Speedway.
That May 15 showing preceded three more top five’s in the next four series events.
“Rookie of the year was our goal from the start of the season. We struggled in the first couple of races. The biggest challenge for us was dialing the shocks in and learning what to change and what not to change,” Carter said. “I led 32 of 40 laps at Quad City and while it was disappointing not to win, it was still a big confidence booster.”
He followed with top five’s at Marshalltown Speedway, Independence Motor Speedway and Kossuth County Speedway.
“We got the car going pretty good and when you make the redraw, everything seems to go pretty good, too,” Carter said. “That was a pretty good stretch for us.”
Wheeling a Joe and Sharon Ferguson-owned 2016 Barry Wright Chassis, Carter was ninth in Deery Series point standings. The Oskaloosa, Iowa, driver sharpened his Late Model skills with five weekly starts at West Liberty Raceway, where he finished second twice.
“You race against tough competition in the Deery Series so you need to race against tough competition every week,” he reasoned. “It’s hard to win at West Liberty.”
Carter was the tough competition in the IMCA Sunoco Stock Car division, winning 11 of 13 regular season starts driving for Roger Kelderman. He qualified for both Late Model and Stock Car main events at the IMCA Speedway Motors Super Nationals fueled by Casey’s coming up one spot short in the Modified.
He also had 16 Xtreme Motor Sports IMCA Modified starts in the Team Jimmy’s #10c LG2, winning once.
Starts: 16
Wins: 0
Top Five Finishes: 5
HIS CREW: Joe and Sharon Ferguson, and Roger Kelderman.
HIS SPONSORS: Ferguson Family Farms; Precision Performance of Oxford; Performance Bodies of Cedar Falls; Karl Performance of Des Moines; Eibach Springs of Corona, Calif.; Barry Wright Race Cars of Cowpens, S.C.; and Channel Seeds.